Your son, as you may know (or maybe you don’t know), is Chairman of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., whose most popular video games are the Grand Theft Auto murder simulator games banned in some countries but sold to children here.

Your son last week was reported to have said the following about Grand Theft Auto IV, due to be released Tuesday, April 29: “We’ve already received numerous [GTA IV] reviews, and to a one, they are perfect scores. My mom couldn’t write better reviews…” Taking your son’s thought, I would encourage you either to play this game or have an adroit video gamer play it for you. Some of the latter gamers are on death row, so try to find one out in the civilian population who hasn’t killed someone yet.

What you will see in your son’s game, if this iteration of GTA is anything like its predecessors, is incredible interactive violence aimed at police officers (whom you can shoot in the head and see the blood spray), innocent bystanders (whom you can run over with your car just for the heck of it), and of course the plentiful female prostitutes you can have sex with and then filet with a knife or stomp with your feet in order to get your money back. Experts note that the recent plethora of cop killings is caused in part by your darling son’s entrepreneurial energy. There are three policemen dead in Alabama because of Grand Theft Auto. I was on 60 Minutes about it. I hope Strauss has provided you with a flat screen tv to see the grief of the bereaved families that fills the screen.

The pornography and violence that your son trafficks in is the kind of stuff that most mothers would be ashamed to see their son putting into the hands of other mothers’ children, but, hey, your son Strauss has recently assured the world that he is “a Boy Scout, everybody knows that.” I’d love to see the merit badges that Scout Troop handed out. Is there a Ted Bundy merit badge? If so, your loving son deserves one now. It should be red and green, for obvious reasons.

With Passover having just come and gone, it is appropriate to note the following from the Old Testament, Proverbs 22:6:
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Mrs. Zelnick, did you train up your son, Strauss, to make millions of dollars by pushing Mature-rated video games to children? Any kid can go right to little Strauss’ corporate web site and buy GTA IV with no age verification. Strauss is even marketing the new Grand Theft Auto IV on World Wrestling Entertainment tv shows seen by millions of kids. If you trained up Strauss to do this, then shame on you.

But maybe the explanation for your son’s corporate sociopathy is to be found in Old Testament Proverb 29:15:
“The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”

Maybe you, Mrs. Zelnick, were so taken by your handsome son that you spared the rod and spoiled the child. That would explain why he has brought you, by the way he presently acts, “to shame.”

There’s another mother you would do well to talk to. Mrs. Crump in Alabama had a son who was a police officer. He’s now dead because a teenaged boy unwittingly trained himself to kill him on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. She has a grief she carries every day that only a mother can know.There are other such mothers in the heartland of America whose inhabitants your son simply sees as commercial targets.

Your son, this very moment, is doing everything he possibly can to sell as many copies of GTA IV to teen boys in the United States, a country in which your son claims you raised him to be “a Boy Scout.” More like the Hitler Youth, I would say. Happy Mother’s day, Mrs. Zelnick, which this year is May 11, two weeks after your son unleashes porn and violence upon other mothers’ boys. I’m sure you’re very proud.

Sincerely, Jack Thompson

Haven't heard from him in awhile guess he needed some attention, no?

Also, if you don't know who Strauss Zelnick is he's T2's Chairman.

Conjo

04-23-2008 03:45 PM

WOW. Do you have a link to confirm this? If so, this guy is really outta line, whether you love or hate GTA, an adult going to someones mother? How low???

DiscoBombs

04-23-2008 03:48 PM

I've played Grand Theft Auto since I was 14, and frequently listen to the same music that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold listened to (Rammstein, KMFDM, and Marilyn Manson, among other industrial groups). Here's the interesting thing Jack, I've never committed a crime. This man is off the deep end and needs a good psychological evaluation. Then again a nice thick King James Version right up the ass (where it belongs) might fix him up.

ElephantGuts

04-23-2008 03:49 PM

i feel like thompson's various statements and letters like this would make me laugh out loud if the sad reality of his life and beliefs wasnt in the back of my mind.

this guy really is ridiculous, im just glad he isnt in a position of power or influence anywhere in the world

pundit

04-23-2008 03:52 PM

This is pure slander, now isn't it?
I hope Strauss sues his ass for this.
(if its real)

DiscoBombs

04-23-2008 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pundit
(Post 1782055)

This is pure slander, now isn't it?
I hope Strauss sues his ass for this.
(if its real)

It's bordering on slander, as for Strauss suing, I'm certain he's a better man than to buy into a child's taunts.

I Like Cake

04-23-2008 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conjo
(Post 1782043)

WOW. Do you have a link to confirm this? If so, this guy is really outta line, whether you love or hate GTA, an adult going to someones mother? How low???

What the FUCK. He's literally abusing his mother into thinking that she's a terrible parent.

This JT-jackass seriously needs to shut up.

DiscoBombs

04-23-2008 03:58 PM

Most teenagers have the attention span of a brain-dead chimpanzee, I sincerely doubt any could watch cartoony old Vice City and learn how to operate a firearm, let alone have the stones to shoot a police officer. If I ever want to learn how to kill someone, I'll just get on that wondrous thing we call the internet or use my own damn reasoning. However television and movies could also teach me what materials to use for a bomb if I really wanted to stir up some trouble.

sb4ap

04-23-2008 03:58 PM

made me giggle

Lukeyy19

04-23-2008 03:59 PM

I was 12 when Grand Theft Auto III was released, which i got on launch day, and have been a fan ever scince, even at 12 i understood that it was a game, a virtual world where you could do this stuff without concequences, i knew that in the real world, to do that sort of thing is wrong and i haven't and never will, commit a crime.

a Police Officer gets killed so it must be because they played GTA?, maybe they watched a movie, a tv program, read a book, any of these things could involve the killing of a Police Officer of which a child could get hold of, without anyone giving a shit.

Grand Theft Auto is a murder simulator that has trained kids from ages 2 to 18 how to slaughter other human beings without remorse. Its oh-so life like depictions of cars exploding after multiple bullets to non-explosive areas of the car, and extremely realistic animations of people being disemboweled is enough to make any sane human being shudder.

But these children are being desensitized from a young age, and they will all grow up to join gangs and run up in down the streets toting rocket launchers in chainsaws, destroying any living thing in their way.

You kids should be ashamed of yourself for playing this crap. I bet all of you are well on your way to dropping out of school and becoming hitmen with your newfound killing skills.

I mean, these "video game controllers" as you call them almost look like guns even! With a murder simulator and one of these things, anyone can learn to handle a weapon and effectively MURDER with it.

HAVEN'T YOU PEOPLE READ THE BIBLE?! THOU SHALT NOT KILL!

Br0k3nArr0w21

04-23-2008 04:17 PM

One part of his letter I find rather interesting: He claims that millions of kids would witness GTA IV advertisements while watching wrestling. What I find peculiar is that, isn't wrestling considered a "violent" sport, that could possibly "damage" a child's young, impressionable mind if he or she is to witness 'roid-induced 35 year-olds throwing each other onto mats, slamming chairs and fluorescent lights on each other's heads? Wouldn't it better suit him if he were to protest violence in ALL forms of media, not just video games?